Date: Fri, 15 Nov 1996 11:31:56 -0500
From: "Flynn Mclean"
Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 11/15/96
AIDS Daily Summary
November 15, 1996
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National
AIDS Clearinghouse makes available the following information as a
public service only. Providing this information does not
constitute endorsement by the CDC, the CDC National AIDS
Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction of this
text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC
National AIDS Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this
information. Copyright 1996, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD
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"Lack of Assurance: Able to Work Again, AIDS Patients Worry About
Disability Pay"
"In the Line for AIDS Drugs, Children Are Last"
"New Year's Resolution: Fleming Leaving AIDS Policy Office"
"Resistance to HIV Discovered in Group of Kenyan Prostitutes"
"AIDS Book OK'D"
"Pioneering AIDS Group Is Sinking"
"AIDS Meeting to Focus on Blacks"
"Brown Opposes Licensing Sex Clubs"
"Human Rights and the HIV Paradox"
"International Treatment Access and Research, How You Can
Help--Interview With Dr. Peter Piot of UNAIDS"
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"Lack of Assurance: Able to Work Again, AIDS Patients Worry About
Disability Pay"
Wall Street Journal (11/15/96) P. A1; Anders, George
Jeff Bloom, like other AIDS patients who have seen their
health improve with new drug therapies, is facing a dilemma about
the prospect of returning to work and losing his disability
benefits. Moreover, disability insurers had become accustomed to
paying benefits to AIDS patients, not expecting them to survive
the disease for very long. However, patients are surviving
longer, and insurers are uncertain of the impact on disability
benefits. Together, private insurance companies and Social
Security pay more than $1.5 billion a year in benefits to about
100,000 people with AIDS and other HIV-related diseases in the
United States. Ken Nibali, of the Social Security
Administration, said the agency may tighten its disability
criteria for AIDS patients if new drugs continue to show such
promising results. Private insurers say they expect to see AIDS
patients returning to work, and they may offer ways to help
policyholders re-enter the work force.
"In the Line for AIDS Drugs, Children Are Last"
Wall Street Journal (11/15/96) P. B1; McGinley, Laurie
Because the new HIV drugs known as protease inhibitors have
not been tested widely in children, most doctors will not
prescribe the drugs for pediatric use, citing a lack of safety
data. Legally, doctors are allowed to prescribe a drug to
children if it has been approved for adults, but concerns about
how to administer the drugs prevent most physicians from
prescribing them for young patients. Preliminary results from
small-scale clinical trials of protease inhibitors suggest that
the drugs may be very beneficial for children, but so far, the
only AIDS drugs approved for pediatric use are AZT, ddI, and 3TC.
Drug companies have been criticized for not testing the drugs
more widely in children because children make up a small portion
of the infected population.
"New Year's Resolution: Fleming Leaving AIDS Policy Office"
Washington Post (11/15/96) P. A29; Kamen, Al
Patricia S. Fleming, the U.S. AIDS policy director, says she
will quit the post early next year. Fleming, who replaced the
office's first director, Kristine M. Gebbie, is credited with
helping to boost funding for research, treatment, and HIV
prevention programs.
"Resistance to HIV Discovered in Group of Kenyan Prostitutes"
Washington Times (11/15/96) P. A18
A group of prostitutes in Nairobi appears to be resistant to
HIV infection, Kenyan and Canadian doctors report in the journal
The Lancet. The women did not appear to have the same genetic
mutation that protects some Caucasians from infection, however.
Francis Plummer and colleagues at the University of Manitoba
reported that, of the 424 prostitutes participating in the study,
all were found to be free of HIV infection when the study began
in 1985. During the 10-year study, 239 of the women
seroconverted and most of the others became infected to some
degree. However, despite repeated exposures, 43 of the women
never became infected.
"AIDS Book OK'D"
USA Today (11/15/96) P. 3A
The autobiography of teenage AIDS patient and activist Ryan
White will be returned to the library of Stroudsburg Middle
School in Pennsylvania, officials said. The book was removed last
week because it contains references to sodomy, condom use, and
smoking. White died six years ago at age 18, after contracting
HIV through a blood transfusion. Students will be allowed access
to the book with permission from their parents.
"Pioneering AIDS Group Is Sinking"
Miami Herald (11/14/96) P. 1B; Rogers, Peggy
The League Against AIDS, a Miami-based AIDS organization
that serves the Hispanic community, was once a thriving center
but is now threatened by a financial crisis. Founded in 1987,
the League previously provided social services and counseling at
two locations, employed 40 workers, supported more than 1,200
patients, and received hundreds of dollars a year in public
support. The center now has one employee and depends on
volunteers. The League's decline is attributed to management
problems, and insufficient federal and county funding.
"AIDS Meeting to Focus on Blacks"
United Press International (11/14/96)
The first western regional conference on the impact of AIDS
on African-Americans will begin today in California. "AIDS is No
Laughing Matter: The African-American Community Faces the
Challenge of HIV/AIDS" is sponsored by the African American AIDS
Coalition. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
reported that, between 1981 and 1995, 26 percent of the 513,486
U.S. AIDS cases were among blacks.
"Brown Opposes Licensing Sex Clubs"
United Press International (11/14/96)
Under a new proposal, sex clubs in San Francisco would be
monitored by the city's health department to make sure that safer
sex guidelines are being followed, rather than being licensed, an
official said Thursday. Mayor Willie Brown said on Wednesday
that he felt licensing, which was widely supported in the health
community, was not necessary and that the health department "can
handle whatever is needed to be done to help combat the spread of
AIDS."
"Human Rights and the HIV Paradox"
Lancet (11/02/96) Vol. 348, No. 9036, P. 1217; Kirby, Michael
Government efforts to reduce the spread of HIV should aim to
protect the rights of those at risk rather than enact laws
against activities that increase risk, contends Michael Kirby, a
justice of the High Court of Australia, in the Lancet. Kirby
says that social sanctions against HIV risk behaviors, including
drug use, prostitution, and adultery, rarely result in behavior
modification. While more attention is being devoted to
behavioral and social HIV prevention strategies, developing
countries face cultural obstacles to many of these changes, he
notes. Sexual education is often prohibited, for example, and
women there are powerless to protect themselves. In addition,
homosexuality, injection drug use, and prostitution are illegal
or socially unacceptable; condoms are not available or
affordable; and governments are reluctant to take the radical
measures needed to help fight the disease. Kirby claims that
protecting the rights of individuals at high risk is the right
thing to do because it protects basic human rights. He adds that
laws against risky behaviors have little positive impact and can
actually undermine beneficial programs.
"International Treatment Access and Research, How You Can
Help--Interview With Dr. Peter Piot of UNAIDS"
AIDS Treatment News (11/01/96) No. 258, P. 6; James, John S.
AIDS activists in the United States are increasingly
interested in improving AIDS care worldwide, both because 90
percent of people with the disease live in developing countries
and because scientific study of traditional and accidentally
discovered treatments is needed to assess the efficacy of
potential therapies. In an interview with AIDS Treatment News,
Dr. Peter Piot, executive director of the Joint United Nations
Program on HIV/AIDS, said the agency is now putting more emphasis
on AIDS treatment in developing countries, rather than prevention
only. While he noted that most developing countries cannot afford
the latest antiviral drugs, he said the agency is helping
governments negotiate lower prices and is promoting wider access
to affordable drugs for the prevention or treatment of
opportunistic infections. UNAIDS is also investigating promising
traditional, or natural, therapies. Piot said that U.S. activists
can help the international AIDS effort by raising awareness in the
domestic community of the global impact of AIDS and by forming
partnerships with AIDS groups in other countries.